2014 Subaru Forester 2.0XT Turbo: First Drive

After a day of blasting through otherworldly Saguaro cactus forests of Southern Arizona, much of it on dusty, unimproved gravel backroads—on the way to hot-lap time at the track—we can't exactly say that we put the new turbocharged 2014 Subaru Forester 2.0XT through the kinds of everyday-driving conditions most people will see.

There'll be plenty of time for grocery-getting in a follow-up drive yet to come. What we did do in this first-drive opportunity is really put the Forester through its own special paces—and verified that, again and now more than ever, the Forester pushes the boundaries of a crossover utility vehicle, offering a surprising level of toughness, combined with the handling of a performance vehicle and cabin appointments that are more comfortable and useful than ever.

Yep, a turbo and a CVT

We'll have to admit, too, that we were skeptical about Subaru's approach in pairing the Forester's 250-horsepower, turbocharged 2.0-liter horizontally opposed ('boxer') four-cylinder engine with Lineartronic continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT), but some additional features that this 'high-torque' version of the CVT offers up some interesting tricks that make it more enjoyable.

Why no manual transmission this time? Because even within the niche of Subaru shoppers, it's just too small of a niche. In the last Forester, Subaru managed to only convince 10 percent of shoppers to fall for the Turbo, and only about 15 percent of those opted for the manual transmission.

In short, there are three 'SI-Drive' modes: Intelligent (I), Sport (S), and Sport Sharp (S#), and they each allow you do dial up a different attitude for the XT. Leave it in Intelligent, and you get a nice, relaxed tip-in, with the CVT working to keep revs relatively low. Move over to Sport with the steering-wheel buttons, and you get sharper throttle response, with the CVT allowing higher revs for better transient response; and with the paddle-shifters you can grab onto one of six simulated 'gears.'

Most curious, however, is the Sport Sharp mode. Engage that, and the attitude of the powertrain changes in a pretty noticeable way; even with the shifter just in 'Drive' it emulates an eight-speed automatic, shifting the up and down the gears in a way that would fool almost anyone. With the paddle-shifters then, you can also click up and down through the eight speeds, and steering boost firms up the feel at the wheel.

Sluggish at launch, scorching at speed

In general, we liked everything about the turbo/CVT setup except the way it launched from a standing start. Surprisingly sluggish is how we'd describe its launch—and seriously not any faster by the seat of the pants than the 2.5i model—yet by 10 mph the turbo boost builds and it feels legitimately quick, and you get all 258 pound-feet of torque at 2,000 rpm. We think the rather tall starting ratio of the CVT has something to do with it—although this crossover does still weigh 3,600 pounds.

It's also interesting how the S# mode and its 'gears' fool you into thinking that it's quicker. According to engineers, you'll get the best acceleration times in S mode, using the CVT in Drive. The business of eight speeds is a feel-good move, primarily—and to give you a better sense of control on mountain roads where you want to keep the revs up and have powertrain response be more predictable. You do get a little more satisfying 'thrum' from the boxer four under throttle if you lock in one of those gears, too.